2025 Term 1 Week 8
- Vision & Mission Statement
- Principal's Reflection
- Religious Education
- Harmony Day
- School Community Code of Conduct
- PB4L
- Information Sessions & Webinars
- Easter Raffle
- Library News
- Kindergarten - Gold & Emerald
- Year 1 - Gold & Emerald
- Year 2 Gold
- Year 2 Emerald
- Aboriginal Education
- Awards
- St Patrick's Day
- School Opal Card
- ASPIRE
- Good for Kids - Good for Life
- Community Notices
Vision & Mission Statement
Principal's Reflection
Reconciliation in the Lenten Season
Last night I attended the first in a series of Lenten Reflections at my local Parish. This series is titled: Reconciliation: The Masks We Wear. This title really struck me – The MASKS we wear. I think many of us wear many different masks and for a variety of reasons. I think often as adults these masks are to hide something or put on a front – we are ok, everything is ok here. But when I think deeper about this metaphor, I feel a need to pause, and it really has called me to reflect. Probably the exact result Fr Darryl was hoping to achieve! We do wear many masks – masks that represent the many facets of our lives, who we are and how we feel and act. For me there is the mask of service – a servant leader, the mask of fear, the mask of courage, the mask of hope…. What masks do you have?
Our reflections last night followed Jesus through the Gospel in the Last Supper and Garden of Gethsemane – two places where Jesus wore a mask.
At the Last Supper Jesus wore the mask of SERVICE. Jesus pushes the limits of acceptability - to lead is to serve!
How do you see yourself and role in life – do you see yourself as a leader with power? OR do you see yourself as a leader of service?
The Reign of God is not about power and might- BUT- it is all about outreach and community.
How do I live out this vision? Do I have the humility and openness to reach out to others?
In the Garden Jesus wore the mask of FEAR. Jesus showed his humanity and fear, he prayed to be delivered from this fate, however he turned the mask of fear around to the mask of acceptance.
Do you face your daily trials and fears with prayer? Could this be something helpful for you?
In the garden, Jesus was left alone by the disciples. They were too tired and self absorbed to see his need.
Are you open to the needs of others or are you comfortable to close your eyes and think it is not your problem?
Lenten Reflection for this fortnight….
Lent is a time to take off our masks and look at who we are - a time to reveal our true selves to others. We strive for authenticity.
Lent is a time when we accept the ‘face’ of others- in a spirit of openness and acceptance. We strive for Tolerance.
Lent is a time for taking risks - accepting who we are and being willing to share with others. We strive for Courage.
Lent is a time to reflect on the journey of Jesus and his complete freedom and authenticity. We strive to imitate the Authenticity of Jesus.
St Patrick’s Yearbook - Feedback
For several years St Patrick’s have produced a yearbook. This yearbook includes photos of each class, and photos of significant events of the year such as sporting events, religious celebrations etc. This has been given to families at the end of the school year - A nice thing to have. We do acknowledge many of the images are included throughout the year in newsletters.
As with everything in school we review and reflect often on what achieves the best outcomes for students and meets the needs of our community. As a Catholic School we are not just all about academic outcomes, we are committed to the social and emotional development of our children, our authenticity as a catholic community and building this with our families. The staff are currently considering if the Yearbook is something to continue in 2025. The two main reasons being discussed are whilst it is nice to have it takes a significant amount of time for a small group of staff to create and the cost of producing this is significantly increasing. Does the produced product warrant the time and large expense or are we better placed to use the money for something which may have a greater impact for the students or community? The staff would like community voice in this decision. We are asking families with students in grades 1-6 (as our new Kinder families would not have had a yearbook yet) to complete the short survey following the link below. Please consider all factors above – including time, cost, how long your family keep the book, if you read it etc. when giving us your personal feedback.
Please click here to provide your feedback
We sincerely thank you for your input and time.
Congratulations Miss Vassel!
It’s a Boy! – Austin James
Miss Vassel has a beautiful baby boy! Congratulations to Brooke and Grant from your St Patrick’s family. Austin is so precious, and we wish your family every blessing as you begin this next chapter.
Enrolments for Kindergarten 2026 at St Patrick’s Cessnock are now open. Enrolments are now fully online. If you have a child you wish to enrol at St Patrick’s for Kindergarten next year please click the link below to complete an enrolment application.
It is important that applications for enrolment are made within the enrolment period as the Diocesan enrolment prioritisation structure may result in places filling and late enrolments being unsuccessful.
If you have any family or friends wishing to seek enrolment at St Patrick’s for next year, for Kindergarten or any other grade, please make them aware enrolments are open and they can enroll online now. If anyone has difficulty with online enrolment they can pop into the office or alternatively call the school on 49903152 for assistance.
Enrolments close FRIDAY 23rd MAY 2025.
Year 6 parents please note the enrolment period is the same for Year 7 at St Joseph’s College Lochinvar. I have heard that there are many enrolment applications already submitted for Year 7. Please ensure you apply for enrolment ASAP so your application is in prior to the closing date. I know the College would appreciate all the applications for students from feeder primary schools to be in soon so they are able to determine how many other places they may have available.
Religious Education
Project Compassion
This Lenten season, your children’s generosity has continued to uplift vulnerable individuals like Toefuata'iga, from Samoa, Lam, from Vietnam and Irene, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the grasp of poverty. The students are familiar with these individuals from their RE lessons related to Project Compassion.
Those still wishing to support Project Compassion are encouraged to do so by continuing to contribute to Project Compassion boxes which are available in all classrooms. These donations will be collected just before the Easter break, and we are still promoting this initiative in classrooms. Thank you to all who have contributed so far, every cent counts.
RE in the classroom - Year 3 Gold
St Patrick’s Day
What a great morning we had celebrating the Feast Day of the Patron Saint of our school St. Patrick prior to our walkathon. During the liturgy, some of the Year 4 students led our community in presenting some interesting information about the story of St Patrick and his life and mission.
We learnt about the significance of the Trinity in St Patrick’s teachings of Christianity. We thank the Year 4 teachers and students for assisting in sharing the story of St Patrick with us, we all learnt something new about St Patrick. The liturgy culminated with Mrs Freeman’s Irish dance group performing a traditional jig for us. The girls then taught some other enthusiastic students at recess time some of their dance moves!
Facts about Saint Patrick
Did you know....
- The shamrock flower became a symbol used by Saint Patrick to teach people about God.
- Each of the leaves represents an element of faith: God the Father, God the Sun and God the Holy Spirit.
- The shamrock, being green in colour, is thought to be one of the reasons people wear green on St. Patrick's Day.
- Although an Irish patron saint, Patrick was born in Roman Britan in the year 397 CE.
- He was given the name Maewyn Succat at birth but changed it to Patrick when he became a priest.
- When he was about fourteen years old, he was captured and taken to Ireland.
- When Patrick was twenty years old, he escaped from slavery and returned home.
- Patrick travelled around Ireland for 60 years telling people about Jesus. Throughout this time, he consecrated over 350 bishops to help him do his work.
- He died on 17th March, 493 CE. This is the date of St. Patrick's Day. People all over the world celebrate his feast day with parades, parties, and the wearing of green.
Please see further along in the newsletter some photos from our St Patrick's Day Celebrations.
St Joseph’s Day
We marked the Feast of St Joseph and our parish Patron Saint with a special in class prayer service.
Joseph, the Pilgrim of Hope
Some words from Sr Monica Cavanagh
Congregational Leader Sisters of St Joseph
This Jubilee year provides each one of us with the opportunity to reflect on the role of pilgrimage in our lives and in the life of Joseph. The Gospel accounts in which reference to Joseph are shared speak of Joseph setting out on a journey to unknown and unfamiliar places – Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth. He steps out with courage, trusting that God would walk with him in these difficult moments.
I am sure at times he must have felt anxious and afraid as he navigated his way through the perils that surrounded him. He never lost sight of the mission entrusted to him as protector of Mary and Jesus. He remained steadfast, even when it was at times hard for him to understand.
[Joseph’s] humble heart rejoiced as he let no obstacles deter him from acting with courage. Mary MacKillop, 10.3.1907
Harmony Day
Today we celebrated Harmony Day as a community. Harmony Day celebrates the core values of inclusiveness and mutual respect for one another's culture and fosters a sense of belonging for everyone who calls Australia their home. Our activities today celebrated the many cultures that make up our school community. Arhya T and some year 6 girls shared Arhya’s Samoan culture through traditional dance and dress. A profound moment where we were all invited to share in and experience another culture. In classrooms the students from a variety of backgrounds and cultures shared with their classes. We also had our Harmony Day Artwork – Everyone Belongs with every child in the school having added their name to the artwork in the past week.
Thank you to the staff and students who prepared our celebrations today and all our families and friends who were able to join us for our Harmony Day Assembly.
School Community Code of Conduct
On enrolment parents/carers are required to agree to our School Community Code of Conduct. A further copy is attached here for your information.
PB4L
The Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L) Framework is a Catholic Schools Office (CSO) initiative for implementation within our school communities to help create inclusive, vibrant and positive learning environments in which all students are supported to reach their full potential.
Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L) is an evidenced-based, organisational framework for behaviour support to enhance respectful relationships and engagement of students in their learning.
Here at St. Patrick’s our PB4L is based around our five Catholic Values that underpin everything we do at our school – Respect, Kindness, Compassion, Forgiveness and Justice.
Our Week 7 and 8 PB4L Focus has been;
Use kind words, use manners and follow instructions.
Our focus for the next two weeks (Weeks 9 and 10) will be;
Respect the school environment & put rubbish in the bin
Information Sessions & Webinars
Upcoming information sessions and webinars for parents and carers
Parents and carers are the most important educators in their child’s life. As well as partnering directly with our school to support your child’s learning and wellbeing, there are a range of webinars and information sessions provided each month by reputable providers specifically for parents and carers- free of charge. To view a list of upcoming webinars and information sessions that may be of interest to you, click the link below at any time. The list will be updated weekly throughout the school term, so be sure to check the page regularly.
Another useful resource for parents and carers to access timely information on a range of topics including cyber safety, mental health, positive parenting, school survival, diversity and inclusion and healthy bodies is via School TV. Our school invested in this online platform so that our parents and carers can conveniently access reliable information from credible sources all in one place - when you need it most - not just at a specified webinar time. It includes videos, fact sheets and podcasts all delivered by leading psychologists and experts. To access our school’s SchoolTV click here.
Easter Raffle
On 11 April we will be holding our Easter Raffle.
Raffle tickets have been sent home, 50c per ticket. Should you require more tickets they are available from the office.
Library News
This year, a new library assistant commenced work in St Patrick's Library. Mrs Gabrielle Durham comes to us from Mackillop College at Warnervale. We made her feel very welcome and she has made herself at home after only 7 weeks of Term One. In that time, she has created some lovely displays in our library to celebrate St Patrick's Day and International Women's Day, with accompanying book recommendations. We also continue to weed out books that are old, damaged, and simply outdated. So, if your child arrives home with a book where the bar code has been inked out, it belongs to them as we are giving our old books away. If you or your children would like some, you will find them outside the Admin Office. They change regularly as more books are weeded. Mrs Durham is looking forward to creating more displays as more Celebration Days draw close.
We are also very pleased to welcome back Mrs Woods who has returned this week after surgery earlier this year. Welcome back Mrs Woods. We have lots of new books to add to our collection.
A reminder for Library borrowing
A high number of students, especially kindergarten, forgot their returns this week, so were unable to borrow. We reminded them that if they bring their books in the next day, they can borrow some new books.
The library borrowing times are:
Monday: Year Four & Year One
Tuesday: Kindergarten & Year 5
Wednesday: No classes in the library, but students can borrow if they have made their returns.
Thursday: Year 2 & Year 6
Friday: Year 3
Premier's Reading Challenge
Thank you to the parents who contacted me regarding their children's logon details to the Premier's Reading Challenge. I may not have mentioned it in the last newsletter, but the Department of Education (DET) has changed all the logon passwords for security reasons. So, if you or your child is having problems logging on, that is the reason. Feel free to email me anytime for your child's updated login details: michael.mckenzie@mn.catholic.edu.au
Here is a link to the PRC Website: Premier's Reading Challenge
Lego Club
Our second week of Lego Club was in high demand with some of our builders completing their projects. We purchased a few Lego kits over the weekend and were fortunate to receive a donation of 218 drink containers which contributed to the purchase. Check out some of the finished products by some of our Lego builders.
Book Club
Issue 2 of Book Club is now available.
Orders close on 27 March 2025.
Please place your order via LOOP.
Kindergarten - Gold & Emerald
Successful Foundations: A Joyful Journey
As we near the end of the Successful Foundations Project, it has been a joy to watch our students continue to develop their sense of self. Through play, they have been building emotional and social confidence, learning how to engage in relationships with their peers and teachers.
Over the past weeks, our little explorers have enjoyed stepping into the role of travel agents! They’ve been busy booking trips to exciting destinations, paying for tickets, and finding their locations on the world map. Many students have taken a trip on the Shamrock Express, while others have embraced roles as pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers, and mechanics. Some students even created their own destinations, like zoos and cities, while others used loose parts to design natural areas of Australia. Some of the students have also taken in a show whilst on holiday. Students have enjoyed performing in the puppet show, being in the audience, selling tickets and being ushers. The creativity and teamwork we have seen during these sessions has been truly inspiring—we’d love to take a trip to some of their amazing destinations!
Our students have also celebrated some special school traditions for the first time. They are now assembly experts, confidently participating like the grown-up learners they are becoming. They have also mastered the routines of going home independently—a big milestone! We recently marked Shrove Tuesday with delicious pancakes and had a fantastic time celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with themed classroom activities and outdoor fun. We are so impressed with how well they have embraced these new experiences!
As Successful Foundations draws to a close, our mornings will begin to include a little more structure—while still being packed with hands-on learning and play! We are introducing Playing with Words and Numbers, where students will have opportunities to practise key skills and concepts from class in a fun and engaging way.
We are so proud of our students' growth and cannot wait to see where the rest of the year takes them!
Year 1 - Gold & Emerald
In Year One, we've been having a wonderful time learning together! Over the past few weeks in Maths, we have been exploring measurement, discovering the concepts of length, area, mass, volume, and capacity through hands-on activities that make learning engaging and fun. In Religion, we took part in a reflective Ash Wednesday liturgy, and have been learning how we can share kindness to others. We created Ash Wednesday portraits, complete with the Sign of the Cross on our foreheads. We have been working hard in English lessons to develop strong foundations in phonics, learning some new digraphs and tricky words, and unlocking the magic of words through storybooks and writing. We love working together and sharing our ideas. It's so much fun in Year 1!
Year 2 Gold
Year 2 Gold loved learning about Patterns in Maths. We learnt that patterns have a core and repeat in a predictable way. We explored all different patterns such as colour patterns, shape patterns, number patterns, letter patterns, and also looked at real life examples of patterns like stripes on a zebra, snowflake patterns, the patterns of waves in the ocean, patterns on a calendar, patterns in poems/nursery rhymes, and patterns using body percussion.
In English, we enjoyed building our vocabulary choosing past tense verbs to help us with our writing. We learnt that sometimes to make a word past tense we just add a suffix, but sometimes, to make a word past tense, you need to change the whole word!
What fun we are having in Year 2 Gold!
For St Patrick’s Day Year 2 Gold loved getting to walk through the town and find all the shamrocks to have our photos at. But the best part of the walkathon was definitely the park! When we returned to school we made leprechaun traps and learnt more about St Patrick and why he is so important. In our class we have been utilizing our new grade set of iPads and integrating more work with technology into our days. This is a wonderful way to show our learning in different ways that best match how students learn. We have been practicing our hockey skills in PE and have been having lots of fun mini games in the Quad.
An integrated Aboriginal and Science lesson in Year 2 Gold
Year 2 children enjoyed an outdoor Science Learning Session in the new play area. The children yarned about Aboriginal people being our first engineers, read The First Scientists by Corey Tutt, and built canoes from natural materials like bark and leaves. After testing them for floatability, many took their canoes home to show their families. We have shared some photos of this very memorable lession:
Year 2 Emerald
Aboriginal Education
Year 5 students have been busy creating string and foil sculptures of native animals.
In Year 2, we have been exploring how the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are regarded as Australia's first scientists, with a deep understanding of the land, sea, and sky, which they shared through stories, songs, and dance. The students also spent time creating their own canoes using natural materials.
Awards
Week 7
CLASS CAPTAINS
Kindergarten – Emerald | Annie Dever | Java Santoso |
Kindergarten – Gold | Gypsy Rose | Cooper Taranto |
Year 1 – Emerald | Aleeya Benson | Archie Johns |
Year 1 – Gold | Abigail Bryant | Lennox Connelly |
Year 2 – Emerald | Moses Dsilva | Ella Dickson |
Year 2 – Gold | Evie Harris | Harrison Johnstone |
Year 3 – Emerald | Nixon Attewell | Violet Burness |
Year 3 – Gold | Beau Shearer | Edith Hanson |
Year 4 – Emerald | Ruby Dunn | Rocco Grant |
Year 4 – Gold | Jack Dickson | Trance O’Neil |
Year 5 – Emerald | Linc O’Leary | Isaiah Van-Steen |
Year 5 – Gold | Adi Santhoshkumar | Benji Shears |
Year 6 – Emerald | Rosalie Chapman | Jack Brown |
Year 6 – Gold | Elsie Miller | Winter Rose |
MERIT AWARDS
Kindergarten – Emerald | Bailey Dunn | Rosie Riddle |
Kindergarten – Gold | Jaxson Upton | Smith Gidley |
Year 1 – Emerald | Anderson Kennedy | Henry Munro |
Year 1 – Gold | Kynan Kospetas | Lily Botham |
Year 2 – Emerald | Harper Olsen | Hunter Stanford |
Year 2 – Gold | Boston Barber | Parker Lee |
Year 3 – Emerald | Ryan Rajeev Rojer | Piper Clements |
Year 3 – Gold | Reign Kelly | Willow Bice |
Year 4 – Emerald | Tate Butler | Harriet Munro |
Year 4 – Gold | Parawynn Phuangbuppha | Juliet Fulham |
Year 5 – Emerald | Jacob Burley | Amelia Hodge |
Year 5 – Gold | Willow McLeod | Estella Greenup |
Year 6 – Emerald | Jackson Lewis | Levi Hodge |
Year 6 – Gold | Leo Magid | Gabriella Elliott |
Mrs Kennedy | Colby Leary | Sophia Vickers |
Miss Vassel | Amity Sams | Isla Nightingale |
Mr McKenzie | Leo Magid | Jake McDonald |
Mrs Blake |
|
|
Mrs MacPherson |
|
|
PRINCIPAL’S AWARDS
Kindergarten – Emerald | Arlo Riddle |
Kindergarten – Gold | Yamato Lama |
Year 1 – Emerald | Arlo Reeves |
Year 1 – Gold | Macey Hugo |
Year 2 – Emerald | Isabella Fletcher |
Year 2 – Gold | Mia Nightingale |
Year 3 – Emerald | Lydia Manktelow |
Year 3 – Gold | Ben Taggart |
Year 4 – Emerald | Axel Shipman |
Year 4 – Gold | Serena Stelle |
Year 5 – Emerald | Ellie-Grace Hooker-Connell |
Year 5 – Gold | Parkar Cremona |
Year 6 – Emerald | Molly Simpson |
Year 6 – Gold | Ella Rust |
Week 8
CLASS CAPTAINS
Kindergarten – Emerald | Alfie Desmond | Halen Dore |
Kindergarten – Gold | Sophie Eves | Jackson Biddle |
Year 1 – Emerald | Toby Darr | Harlow Leayr |
Year 1 – Gold | Sullivan Starkey | Isabella Diola |
Year 2 – Emerald | Ellora Manktelow | George O’Connor |
Year 2 – Gold | Talan Jones | Grace Jurd |
Year 3 – Emerald | Nylah Robertson | Reigan Baker |
Year 3 – Gold | Ava Condran-Jarrett | Grayson Diola |
Year 4 – Emerald | Adam Lambert | Sophia Olsen |
Year 4 – Gold | Joseph Etherington | Kobi Swift |
Year 5 – Emerald | Beoc Dsilva | Darcy Evans |
Year 5 – Gold | Henry O’Connor | Charlotte Magee |
Year 6 – Emerald | Oscar Gemell | Aurora Whitbread |
Year 6 – Gold | Ella Rust | Lachlan Slack |
MERIT AWARDS
Kindergarten – Emerald | Billie Hill | James Isted |
Kindergarten – Gold | Julian Borines | Remi Bacchiella |
Year 1 – Emerald | Darby Gore | Layla Baker |
Year 1 – Gold | Evelyn Stokes | Huxley Crump |
Year 2 – Emerald | Owen Norton | Eadie Moyle |
Year 2 – Gold | Nyla Goodsir | Oliver Lewis |
Year 3 – Emerald | Angus Steele | Violet Burness |
Year 3 – Gold | Emity Butler | William Collard |
Year 4 – Emerald | Payton O’Neill | Andre Ceccato |
Year 4 – Gold | Flynn Foster-Boyle | Oivia Riley |
Year 5 – Emerald | Beau Gregory | Wyatt Schrader |
Year 5 – Gold | Harry Cagney | Baxter Cleaves |
Year 6 – Emerald | Havanah Grant | Alexis Hindmarsh |
Year 6 – Gold | Sophia Barber | Jai Capararo |
PRINCIPAL’S AWARDS
Kindergarten – Emerald | Java Santoso |
Kindergarten – Gold | Kaiden Deane |
Year 1 – Emerald | Tom Horner |
Year 1 – Gold | Thomas Merchant |
Year 2 – Emerald | Vivienne Kroek |
Year 2 – Gold | Isla-Rose Thoma-Funaki |
Year 3 – Emerald | Matilda Slade |
Year 3 – Gold | Lealarni Smith |
Year 4 – Emerald | Sienna Capararo |
Year 4 – Gold | Patrick Slade |
Year 5 – Emerald | Jacob Burley |
Year 5 – Gold | Travis Williams |
Year 6 – Emerald | Rosalie Chapman |
Year 6 – Gold | Mason Crump |
St Patrick's Day
Here are some photos of our wonderful St Patrick's Day Celebrations...
Kindy St Patrick's Day Celebrations
Year 1 St Patrick's Day Walk-a-Thon
Year 2 St Patrick's Day Walk-a-Thon
Year 3 St Patrick's Day Walk-a-Thon
Year 4 St Patrick's Day Walk-a-Thon
Year 5 St Patrick's Day Walk-a-Thon
Year 6 St Patrick's Day Walk-a-Thon
More St Patrick's Day Fun!
School Opal Card
Rover Coaches service St Patrick's Primary School and students using this service must hold a School Opal Card.
To apply for a School Opal Card please visit the Service NSW website.
Please click here to visit Rover Coaches website for bus route and timetable information.
ASPIRE
Good for Kids - Good for Life
Community Notices
Newsletter Sponsors
